Big Cat Causes Big Trouble

A 146-lb. Romanian spotted leopard named Fluffy was discovered missing from the Durham Zoo when it opened at 7:30 a.m. today. The animal was last seen at 9 p.m. on Tuesday when the zoo closed.
“We have no idea what time Fluffy escaped or where she went,” said Gerry Durrell, the director of the zoo. “We are searching the grounds of the zoo but so far we haven’t a clue. She may have left the area and she could be walking around Durham at this point.”
While confusion was high at the zoo grounds this morning, police and witnesses helped to piece the story together.
According to Newmarket resident James Petronkis, 36, he noticed something was wrong with Fluffy’s cage when he arrived at the zoo at 7:3O a.m.
“Fluffy usually draws the straw up into a nest when she sleeps, but there was no nest- there wasn’t even any straw,” Petronkis said.
Petronkis told a guard he believed something was wrong with Fluffy but the guard ignored his concern. Feeling sure that something was wrong, he pulled a fire alarm and talked to another guard, Petronkis said.
Zoo officials finally checked the animal’s cage and found that Fluffy was indeed missing.
“All hell broke loose,” said Petronkis, who hid behind a building to watch while other visitors were being forced out of the zoo. “Police cars come from every direction...Cops with guns drawn were everywhere. People were screaming. It sounded like a thousand cars squealing their tires. It was mayhem.”
While police and zoo workers searched the zoo grounds for Fluffy, armed with guns, the zoo’s chief biologist, Kitty Smith, warned the public that Fluffy could be dangerous.
“If these cats are cornered—encountered on a dark night—their defense is to kill, and to kill quickly,” Smith said. “We urge anyone who encounters Fluffy to get to the ground and lay still.”
Police Chief William Blair also spoke at the press conference, and said that because the zoo is near a residential neighborhood and elementary school, the police are determined to find the animal before 3 p.m. when school lets out.
“We have asked the New Hampshire State Police and the state wildlife department to help in the search,” Blair said. “We’re going to find this cat if it kills us.”




Softer Lead:
The Durham Zoo opened this morning with one very important resident missing- Fluffy, a rare Romanian spotted leopard.
The visitors that usually fill the zoo were soon replaced with police armed with tranquilizer guns and high-powered rifles as the search began for this 146-lb. cat.
“I knew something was wrong right away,” said Newmarket resident James Petronkis, who said he arrived at the zoo when it opened as he always does to see Fluffy. “Fluffy usually draws the straw up into a nest when she sleeps. But there was no nest- there wasn’t even any straw.”
After ignoring Petronkis’ first warnings that Fluffy was missing, zoo officials checked the animal’s cage and realized Fluffy was gone.
“All hell broke loose,” said Petronkis. “Police cars came from every direction…cops with guns drawn were everywhere. People were screaming…it was mayhem.”
Police Chief William Blair outlined the search plan to find Fluffy at a press conference held at the zoo at 9 a.m., saying that if the animal was not found at the zoo, police would begin to search the surrounding residential neighborhoods.
This search plan, however, was not needed. After canvassing the zoo grounds, the leopard was finally found- asleep under a pile of hay in its cage.